Successful Ohio Funding Fix/Flip Case Study

In September 2017, I received a referral from a Real Estate Agent colleague in San Diego, his friend in Cleveland Ohio needed funding for a property that purchased for cash back in July 2017 for $80,000 cash. They purchased the property to be used for a special needs daycare center (special use)

While using personal funds to finance a total interior remodel, they demo/gutted the inside of the property, with this being their first project, they were not prepared for the unexpected expenses that presented themselves.

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Their rehab was north of $60,000.

They purchased the property for cash, so the equity should available, right?

In simple terms, yes – but because of these factors the marketability of a potential loan became more difficult:

Location of the asset

Asset type (special use) not just a regular tenant rental, it’s residential used as a business.

Value of Asset (As-Is value was only $75K) most fix/flip hard money loan minimums are $150k

This was a long-term Hold, but lenders who offer long-term financing at reasonable rates will only loan to stable assets, so she needed a two-step solution.

Gutting the property destroyed the chances of simply cash-out refinancing because the lender immediately required an appraisal inspection!

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Challenges:

Getting a lender to approve the refinance knowing the borrower has no previous history of completing rehabs.

Getting a lender to approve the loan knowing the borrower has no reserves! They underestimated their rehab, and needed the funds to complete the renovation. How will they repay the loan?

Developing an exit strategy for the fix/flip loan included adding a co-signor, who also needed to be added to the business LLC.

Solutions:

We applied in the name of the LLC with a very well-known lender, the rate was higher than we preferred, but the points were reasonable and they provided the requested cash-out to complete the rehab and reserve 12 months’ worth of interest payments so she didn’t have to worry about that. Everything was going smoothly, we had title complete, ARV appraisal came in at $160K!

The following days we had a term sheet with $15,000 cash to close as a condition? This included points, closing costs and reserves requirement! The proposed loan amount was $80,000, so I convinced her that we needed to raise the funds from somewhere!

Her father stepped up earlier in the process to qualify for the exit loan as a co-borrower, he has a 700+ fico score. To qualify for the 7.5% rate with 30 yr. fixed or 7/1 ARM with 30-day refi seasoning, you need to have a solid 660+ Fico. I offered to help them land unsecured funding to deposit to their business account to show reserves, they weren’t happy about paying the fees or the unexpected panic to perform, but reluctantly applied for and received $90k+ in personal unsecured funding from 6 different vendors.

We were ready to close the loan, when the lender suddenly backed out, saying that the DSCR was just short of qualifying?! They didn’t have they act together, it was a gross error from the underwriting team, and my account rep couldn’t get the exception approved.

It was heart-breaking. Three weeks were spent. Now it’s mid-October, in Ohio they are facing the bitter Mid-West snowy winter, and she can’t afford to slow down on the rehab..

She was blessed to have the cards to take care of expenses, however, because the cards came in her dad’s name, it wasn’t easy to convince them to let the cards go! Her parents feared that she would rack up unsecured debt that she couldn’t pay down. Ultimately destroying her father’s credit.

My team and funding partner located her a great loan, they agreed to take the rehab bid we put together, ARV appraisal, title work and loan package, it was already packaged and should’ve been a slam-dunk!

She used the credit card she received to pay a small application fee, and they announced a closing date. Unfortunately, it took about 3 weeks longer to get it done, meanwhile, honestly I’m getting nervous – my client called me with her husband on the line and they were concerned as well.

I reassured her that I knew these guys would close & that her case was very solid!

She explained the situation with the credit cards and her inability to use them.

I coached her on how to explain the importance of intent. The whole reason we are applying for multiple forms of funding is to complete the rehab at any cost!

This is your future business location. And until you complete the rehab, you are losing time & money.

Use the unsecured funds to pay your contractors and buy material, when this refi goes through, pay the lines of credit off! But have faith.

She complained that she felt bad bringing her parents into it and that she wanted to stop altogether! She was very discouraged.

I reminded her why she started! You are trying to provide a better lifestyle for your family and it requires sacrifice and your dad stepped up to help his little girl!

Don’t fail him by quitting in the middle of your plan! Continue to execute.

And she did.

Over the next couple weeks waiting in anticipation she racked up some hefty invoices from her contractor and was prepared to pay them via her unsecured credit when BOOM suddenly “Clear to Close” came across our emails, with loan docs and estimated HUD for review and signing to be completed a few days later.

Conclusion:

The process taught her a lot about financing, she learned how to qualify for fix/flip and buy/hold loans, as well as unsecured funding.

She had her father add her as an authorized user on all of the trade lines, so now she’ll get her own cards for easy access, she’ll build her credit score through positive history (piggy-backing) and paying all of the lines down again!

She received $90k unsecured financing in 3 weeks, then $75,000 3-4 weeks later @ 12% for 12 months, she received a lump sum at the table, and she has submitted a couple draws already for reimbursement. You complete the work – submit an invoice after you (take before /after pictures), then the 3rd party company reviews, approves and wires the money to your business account in 24-48 hrs.

She now has 6 trade lines that added $90k to her ratios, and if she keeps utilization down under 30%-40% it’ll raise her score to 700+ also with another mortgage trade line, she would be soon staring at an 800+ fico score!

Because we added her dad to the LLC, I’m focused next on helping them create a strong business profile with multiple business lines of credit of $200k-$500k over the next 12 months. These lines will allow them 100% access to borrowing down on the lines without affecting their business credit rating! She can open another daycare center by early 2019, or flip some properties in the area (if they choose).

Finally, since she’s been working on the property the whole time, she estimates being complete with the Refi by mid-January, immediately applying for the refinance into the 30-yr. fixed. The lender has already reviewed her property details, personal credit and financials and pre-approved them, additionally since the 1st payment isn’t due until January for the current loan, she has a great chance to only make 1-2 payments at 12%.

In the end, my team and I were successful at providing a couple rounds of funding for a well-deserved client. We have a long-term solution in place that she can self-sustain and scale up if preferred.

At Fix and Flippers, we approach each potential deal on a case-by-case basis. It’s helpful to remember that we are very active in the market and possess resources that may not be advertised or previously mentioned.

We help clients with credit repair, credit enhancements, traditional and non-traditional funding, both secured and unsecured. We pair up investors to structure successful joint venture partnerships.

We prefer an on-going working relationship with our clients to offer advice, consulting and resources.

We welcome Brokers and Facilitators to partner with us. You will be protected.